07/07/2026
Every business & organization has a jerk who's a high performer. I came up with a term, Jerkformer™ (noun): A high-performing employee whose toxic behavior quietly ruins trust, collaboration, and culture faster than their results create value.
The Jerkformer hits every target.
They close deals.
They exceed quotas.
They produce results.
And because of that, their behavior gets excused. Until the cost starts showing up somewhere else.
The best people stop speaking up. They start to believe that in order to succeed you have to be a jerk and most people don’t want to be one. High performers who value respect quietly leave. Collaboration declines. Psychological safety disappears.
One toxic high performer can undo the work of ten healthy employees. People leave mostly because of toxic people. Life is too short to put up with jerks.
Leadership isn’t just about protecting results. It’s about protecting the culture that makes those results sustainable.
Here’s the question every leader should ask:
If this person’s numbers dropped tomorrow, would we still want them on the team?
If the answer is no, maybe their results have been hiding a much bigger problem. Results matter but character matters more.
Have you ever worked with a Jerkformer™? What did it cost the team?
Jerkformer are not easy to deal with because they are defensive, gaslight and guilt trip their leaders and that causes a lot of leaders to avoid difficult conversations. I see this every day in my 1:1 coaching calls. If this resonates with you, I invite you to schedule a 15 min call https://tools.teutatowler.com/widget/bookings/call-with-teuta
